Wright-Patt center awards $28M UAV contract

The U.S. Air Force has tapped General Atomics for a $28.2 million support deal on its MQ-9 Reaper fleet.

The Poway, Calif.-based company won the three-year contract this week for the first phase of a program to manage the structural integrity of the MQ-9 fleet — which are armed unmanned aerial vehicles — throughout the aircraft life cycle. It was issued by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, against a $120 million contract vehicle issued last summer.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is one of five centers reporting to the Air Force Materiel Command. The organization is the single center responsible for total life cycle management covering all aircraft, engines, munitions, and electronic systems. It manages more than 400 Air Force, joint Department of Defense and international aircraft acquisition programs.

To do that, it executes an annual budget of more than $19 billion and employs a workforce of more than 26,000 airmen, civilian, and contractors across some 75 locations worldwide.